Established in 2018 as a partnership between CDFA and UC ANR, the Climate Smart Agriculture Program promotes the adoption of climate smart agriculture practices targeted at soil health, manure management, and water efficiency statewide. As part of this effort, the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Technical Assistance Coordinator will provide leadership and technical assistance for climate smart agriculture projects supported through public or private investments and practices that are voluntarily adopted by statewide producers. 

The CSA Technical Assistance Coordinator will serve an important role in designing, implementing, managing, and evaluating complex education and technical assistance programs that support the adoption of science-based climate smart farming and ranching practices across California’s diverse agricultural systems. These activities include technical assistance for Climate Bond (Proposition 4)–funded Healthy Soils Program (HSP) and State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) block grants, USDA-funded projects focused on sustainable rangeland management, advanced manure management, dairy sustainability, and greenhouse gas mitigation, and CDFA-funded projects to develop curriculum, training materials, and technical assistance resources for climate smart agriculture programs.

This position functions as an experienced professional with a high degree of knowledge in climate smart agriculture and expertise in specific areas including soil health, irrigation efficiency, rangeland management, manure management, greenhouse gas mitigation, and climate change adaptation. The position will play a critical role in ensuring that Climate Bond-funded HSP and SWEEP projects deliver direct and meaningful benefits to disadvantaged communities (DACs), severely disadvantaged communities (SDACs), socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (SDFRs), Tribes, and other vulnerable populations. This position serves as a statewide and regional subject matter expert and lead worker, training CDFA block grant recipients on the adoption of on-farm climate smart agriculture practices, providing direct technical assistance to farmers and ranchers for climate smart agriculture projects, and conducting data analysis and case study development for local projects to achieve local environmental and economic outcomes for farming communities.